A banned banner

Arborfield Village Hall were recently contacted by the Electoral Services department within hours of putting up a banner (pictured).

The banner: “Say NO to 4,500 houses at Hall Farm Arborfield” funded by Save Our Loddon Valley at Hall Farm (SOLVE Hall Farm) and the installation at the front of the hall was signed off by the trustees.

There is a strong feeling by the residents of Arborfield that the proposed construction of another (even bigger) housing development, having already agreed to 3,500 houses at Arborfield Green is going too far.

Not only do Arborfield residents not need anywhere near this number of new houses, neither does Wokingham!

In all, 2,000 houses would be enough for Wokingham to meet the Government imposed housing targets for a viable Local Plan and can be accommodated elsewhere in the borough (for example at Ashridge, between the A329 and the M4) without completely swamping Arborfield Cross (total population around 3,000 people).

It would also save our locally valued countryside landscape of fields, trees and hedges. It would not involve surrounding the 13th Century church yard at Hall Farm with inappropriate houses.

The Loddon Valley ecology that has been largely undisturbed for centuries could be left untouched. There would be no need to remove acres of farmland from useful food production against the desire of the local farmer to continue farming, and at a time of increasing food insecurity.

But it seems that because there was one complaint made that the banner was “Political” and because the hall is to be used as a Polling Station on May 5th the Returning Officer felt that the banner would need to be removed.

The Trustees, as a compromise, offered to take it down the day before the local Elections, and put it back the day after.

This proposal was accepted by the Returning Officer.

The whole issue raises an important point. If 4,500 houses at Hall Farm is a “Political issue” then why are the Conservative Executive of Wokingham Borough Council spending so much of OUR public money on promoting it?

Every single resident in the Borough was posted a letter, signed by John Halsall, leader of Wokingham Executive explaining how Hall Farm/Loddon Valley was the only viable option for a successful Local Plan, how arguments made against the plan were “fake news” and how without a plan we would all be forced to accept houses wherever the developers wanted to build them. How much did that cost the taxpayers of Wokingham?

Paul Stevens, www.

green4grow.org Returning Officer: Returning officer at Wokingham Borough Council, Andrew Moulton, said: “The lead-up to polling day is always a time of heightened political sensitivity and on polling day itself, there are rules around the display of political campaign material.

“The Council has liaised with the organisers of the banner at Arborfield Village Hall which is being used as a polling station on May 5th and agreed with them that the banner will be temporarily removed just for that day.

“We are grateful for the co-operation of the organisers.”